
Summary of VFA Online Course
Lesson 1:
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Why so many new ventures fail
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What successful ventures have in common
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The first four questions you should start working on right away
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How to evaluate whether this venture idea is right for you
Lesson 2:
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What a business model entails and how these models are used to develop and validate new venture concepts
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Each of the nine components of a business model
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How to build the first draft business model for your venture idea
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Defining your venture’s product and services and how they provide value to potential customers
Lesson 3:
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To identify the potential customers for your products and services
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To define customer segments and select which segments you will target first during early stage of your new venture
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To create a customer profile highlighting key and characteristics and behaviors
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The goals of the customer discovery process
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To test and validate whether your potential solution fits these needs and requirements, the product-market fit
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How to interview members of your target customers in order to make sure that you understand their problem correctly
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To evaluate whether these are solutions that the customer uses today to solve their problem
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To access what needs and requirements customers have for a better solution
Lesson 4:
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What role market research plays in new venture development
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How to estimate the size of your potential market based on the selected customer segments
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How to access the competitive landscape within your new venture’s industry
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To identify your direct and indirect competitors and evaluate their business models
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To identify both your internal strengths and challenges as well as those of your competitors
Lesson 5:
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What a minimal viable product (MVP) is and how it supports successful product entry into the marketplace
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Steps required to develop you MVP
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The importance of having customers involved in early product development